This week in photo form...

A few things I've been up to this week!

Making (and eating!) chocolate cake! 

Making chicken, leek and mushroom soup

Making new brooches and rings in the studio

Restocking my shelf at Make Do and Mend, Chelmsford

Experimenting with punch cards on my knitting machine as part of my Fair Isle project. More on this in the coming weeks

Knitting a ladder stitch cardigan in beautiful Rowan Drift

What have you been up to this week?

Inside my Studio

While it's (relatively!) tidy I thought I'd show you around my studio, so welcome, come on in!

I've been at Cuckoo Farm Studios for five and a half years now and I've changed studio a few times as my work has grown. I'm now settled and I've been resident in studio 22 for two and a half years. It's a light and bright little room, upstairs in what was a bedroom in the farm workers cottage (Cuckoo Farm was once a Pig Farm). 

I'm not a very tidy person but it's a working space and it works very well for me. Although I don't get to spend as much time here as I'd like, it does really help me to have a dedicated working space away from the distractions of home and I enjoy being part of an artist community (there are thirty other artists working here in the converted farm buildings). 

 Here's a little look around!

My desk is an old school desk left by a previous tenant, complete with graffiti in the drawers! 

My knitting Machine, a Brother model KH890 Punchcard machine. 

I've just started making a blind for my window and I'll show you when it's done!

Behind the Scenes

I just wanted to share with you some behind the scenes images of new pieces taking shape in my studio...

To make my brooches and necklaces I mostly use recycled wool or wool that people have given me, but working where I do it's hard to resist new things and this is how I have found myself with this beautiful Bergere De France yarn! Luberon is actually a 4ply sock yarn, but it works beautifully through my machine and there is a  lovely range of colours. 

All knitted covers for my brooches and necklaces are knitted by me on my knitting machine!

Brooch bases waiting to be embellished!

New pieces that will be on sale in the Jessica Muir Gallery, Long Melford

Don't forget to check out my new Etsy Shop and visit my Facebook page before the end of June for a free UK postage coupon!

A return to necklace making...

I've spent today in the studio working on some new necklaces which will have fabric embellishment. I haven't made any necklaces for a while because I've been mainly focusing on the brooches, but I thought it would be good to include a couple that tie in with the new collection.

The basic necklace is made from a strip of knit that I make on my knitting machine and then stitch around ribbon strung wooden beads. These necklaces were my starting point in jewellery making, having organically developed from their origins as parts of huge conceptual knitted hanging pieces (I will make a post on those at a later date, all will be revealed!) and they are something I like to return to and continue to adapt in different ways. Here is the navy one taking shape!

Stitching the knit around ribbon strung wooden beads

The base necklace ready to go, alongside the brooch that I would like it to match

I've spent the evening cutting out hundreds of tiny circles of  scrap fabric!

I coat the fabric "sequins" in fabric stiffener to prevent fraying

I'll hand stitch the fabric pieces onto the necklace over the weekend and post a pic of the results!